I think you've hit it on the head with your latter suggestion -- they make money when you pay a fee to sign up to work for them.
There are legitimate jobs doing surveys. However, if a company is hiring you to be a survey taker, they should be paying you. I don't know of any employer who charges a fee to an employee for filling a job position.
Now, just to clarify, if you are starting your own business, then you would have start-up fees. Those fees could legitimately include a membership fee, a franchise fee, a subscription fee, or the requirement that you buy a start-up kit. Starting a business is not getting a job, where you work for someone else -- it is becoming self-employed where you work for yourself.
I have heard from RVers who take online surveys for the fun of it. It seems there are plenty of places you can do so without having to pay a subscription fee. Some report receiving small checks. Mostly, it seems, they receive points that they might be able to later redeem for prizes or merchandise.
Surveys by: Mitch
I signed up about a month ago to take surveys in an attempt to raise additional money while out of work.
Here are my results to date:
Signed up for multiple survey companies. I refuse to pay anybody to join survey company.
Took multiple surveys each day. Found that 99% are bs. Either the surveys are already full, they disqualify you (white male) (not the target group they want), or some other such nonsense.
And, if they disqualify you guess what? NO PAY
In three and a half weeks my account has $7.80 in it.
Don't waste your time.
But, if you do have to try it, do yourself a favor and create a disposable email (one you can delete) because they spam the daylights out of that email.
Surveys by: Anonymous
I too find the same thing you did about surveys. But...Consumer Mail Panels out of Canada and the IPSOS Reid surveys have actually paid me. Not much, $50.00 for a year, but still not so bad.
Take care, Lennie
Surveys by: Stacy Kling
I have a few I do and have done well with them: Ipsos I-say, ACOP.com, pineconeresearch.com.
Also, shadowshopper.com for those who might be in an area for a period of time. I do the free version and have had 3 companies contact me via phone and via websites email service to work for them. It had only been a week when I joined and they called, lol.
So do not limit yourself out there. Some survey places are an outlet to get into one survey place and many more. That's how I found shadowshopper.com.
